HECO secures sub-11¢ PPAs for 110MW of solar

The Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) will buy power from 110MW of new NRG-owned solar projects after state regulators approved the deal.

Power purchase agreements (PPAs) averaging US$0.108/kWh have been signed for the three projects, which were formerly SunEdison sites.

The 49MW Kawailoa Solar project will be the state’s largest. It is built on land owned by the Kamehameha School near Waialua. The school’s land is also home to an existing 69MW wind farm.

The other two projects are the 45.9MW Waipio Solar project, also near Waiawa, and Lanikuhana Solar (14.7MW) near Mililani.

The three sites originally belonged to SunEdison but were acquired by NRG in November 2016 as part of the former’s bankruptcy proceedings. HECO cancelled the previous PPAs with SunEdison when project milestones were missed and negotiated lower rates with the new owners.